Wednesday, April 12, 2017

The preseason Chinook salmon all-gear harvest limit for Southeast Alaska in 2017 has been set at 209,700 fish, under provisions of the Pacific Salmon Treaty, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced this week.

Southeast Alaska’s treaty harvest limit on Chinooks is determined by the Chinook Technical Committee of the Pacific Salmon Commission. It is based on the forecast of an aggregate abundance of Pacific Coast Chinook salmon stocks subject to management under the Pacific Salmon Treaty.

The allocation is shared by sport and commercial troll and net fisheries, under management plans specified by the Alaska Board of Fisheries.

For 2017, the troll sector will get 154,990 fish, and sport harvesters will get 38,720 fish, both after net gear is subtracted. The purse seiners are allocated 9,020 kings, drift gillnetters 6,080 kings and set gillnetters 1,000 fish.

Dale Kelley, executive director of the Alaska Trollers Association, said that even though they fish for kings year round right now everybody is fixated on how many fish they will get when they go fishing on July 1.

“Given that we just came off of a difficult winter fishery dominated by bad weather conditions, and we are going to be tightening our belts in the spring to protect local stocks, the quota announcement is extremely disappointing and presents enormous economic challenges for trollers and other fishermen in Southeast Communities,” she said.

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